Storms and Flooding hits US – from Illinois to Washington DC

Severe storms pounded the upper Midwest with strong winds and heavy rain for a second day Thursday and were blamed for the death of a firefighter who tried to rescue two teenagers from rising floodwaters.Al Anderson Jr., 47, was trying to get to the teens, whose Jeep had gotten stuck, when he drowned in Wellington, Ohio, about 40 miles southwest of Cleveland, authorities said. The teens were rescued. Near Logan, Ohio, nine people were injured Thursday afternoon when lightning struck a shelter during a charity run, according to the State Highway Patrol. One had life-threatening injuries. In Indiana, strong thunderstorms prompted numerous storm and flash flood warnings from the National Weather Service and left behind widespread reports of damaged homes, downed trees and blown over semi-trailers.A lightning strike in Indianapolis sent six firefighter trainees to a hospital, although officials said none of the injuries appeared serious. The site of the U.S. track and field championships was evacuated twice as storms moved through the downtown area.On Wednesday, 5 inches of rain fell in a five-hour span in the Toledo, Ohio, area, 56 mph wind gusts and golf ball-size hail pelted northern Ohio, and tornadoes were reported in Michigan, the National Weather Service said.See: Press-Telegram - Second day of storms hits Midwest hard

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Torrential rain soaked the U.S. capital, toppled a century-old elm tree at the White House, closed the home of the Declaration of Independence and kept tax collectors from work on Monday.With as much as 7 inches of rain falling since Sunday in an East Coast deluge, flooded basements or power outages forced the Internal Revenue Service, Commerce Department, Justice Department and the National Archives to close. The federal government told its 280,000 area workers they could take leave if they were unable to get to work. The Justice Department's main building, where hoses pumped out a flooded basement, would stay closed all week, authorities said. See: Flooding cripples Washington